Death's Son (And All Its Memories)

Chapter 1

Percy thought he finally had a break, he thought he could finally live a normal life. He and Annabeth had their own home, had two kids that were their life. Some monsters came, come powers got out of control. But overall, everything was the best he could imagine.

Until that Sunday.

"Percy, we're out of milk!" Annabeth called from the kitchen as she heard him descending the stairs. "Go get some before that football game comes on!"

Percy stopped at the bottom of the stairs and held his breath, hoping she thought she had assumed wrong. But before he could sneak back up, however, she appeared in the arched doorway. "Percy, I see you."

Percy scratched the back of his head as he let out a soft chuckle. "Huh..."

"I mean it, we need milk." Annabeth tossed him her wallet. "Please go get some. I still haven't worked out today and we both know that you did."

Percy grabbed his jacket off the coat hanger and put it on. "Fine, fine. The kids are still sleeping so listen for them."

Annabeth nodded once before disappearing back into the kitchen. When she was gone, Percy groaned in frustration as he got his shoes on. He hated the store, hated venturing into the city. An early Sunday morning wasn't a great time to go out searching for monsters.

He was halfway to the store when he remembered that he forgot to ask what kind of milk; the kids loved chocolate, but he and Annabeth stayed to white. He turned around to head back when he came face to face with a pair of blue eyes, eyes belonging to a boy that looked as if he crawled right out of a dumpster.

Before Percy could ask exactly why the boy had been so close, the young teenager ran off down the road. Percy would have let him go, but he saw the sword hanging from the boy's belt.

"Hey, kid!" Percy ran after him, his hand moving to Riptide in his pocket. "Come back!"

The kid didn't turn around, but he was fast enough that Percy kept up easily. Before long, he ended up in an alley. The boy was standing with his back against the far wall, another teenager laying at his feet.

"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you." Percy held his hands up in surrender. "I just want to help. You must think I can help if you were following me, huh?"

The boy crouched into a fighting stance but didn't draw his sword. His small fists were clenched tightly, his brown hair hung around his thin face. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

Percy looked around the alley, took in the cold stones. He saw the body at the boy's feet, saw how skinny it was. "Do you need help? I can help you. My name is Percy. Percy Jackson."

A couple of shadows moved over the stones, causing Percy's blood to run cold. "Hey, no need for that, kid."

The boy had seen what Percy saw. Instead of claiming them as his own, he looked even more fearful. "What are you doing?! How are you doing that?!

Percy looked around. "I'm not-" He stopped when he saw the boy taking form from the shadows. "Oh... Nico, what are you doing here?"

The young man stepped out beside Percy, causing the teenager to squeak in fear. Nico's dark hair was brought back in a small ponytail, a golden earring hung from one ear. He kept his hands buried in his jacket's pockets as he leaned against the wall, his cold eyes calculating. "Percy? You aren't supposed to be here."

"Nico!" Percy sighed in relief. "Do you know these kids? The guy was following me."

"His name is Nico?" the boy in question finally spoke up. He looked to Nico, his body still tense with fear. "Why have you been following us? What do you want? Can't you guys just leave us alone?"

"Let's all calm down," Percy interjected. "We need to talk and I don't want anyone running off." He glared at Nico. "Especially you. You get in a lot of shady stuff and try not to let us know."

Nico simply shrugged. "I've been doing jobs for Chiron, not dad. This one's from Chiron."

Percy gestured to the two teenagers. "Demigods?"

"I think so," Nico admitted. "Probably a son of-"

"Who cares if we're demigods?" the boy spoke up. "We've been doing fine on our own. I...I can kill monsters. I have before."

Percy felt his eyes widen at the information and saw Nico stiffen with shock. "You know you're demigods?"

The boy nodded. "Dad told me." His voice turned bitter. "Then he left us alone."

Percy moved closer to the teenager. "Well, this'll go better now that we know you're aware of who you are..." He glanced at Nico, who gave him a gesture to go on. "Did your dad ever tell you of a camp?"

The boy shook his head. "No... He didn't tell me anything else. He left me."

"Most gods are assholes." Nico inputted.

Percy nodded in agreement. "What's your name, kid?"

He scowled. "I'm not a kid. And it's Bay. Bay Carr."

"Nice to meet you, Bay." Percy smiled at him. "I'm Percy Jackson. And the creepy guy is Nico di Angelo. We're both demigods."

Bay nodded. "Okay... Well, you can leave us alone. We don't need you."

Us. Percy looked down at Bay's feet, saw the unconscious girl. "Is she okay?"

Bay moved a hand to his sword protectively. "She's sick."

"Bring her to my house." Percy offered. "We can feed her there and tell you about camp. There are easier ways to live for a demigod, Bay."

Bay looked into Percy's eyes for a minute before looking away. "Fine."